How much camel manure is produced?
On average camel produces about 8 kg manure/head/day. There is more than 70 DM in the camel manure. Camel manure is produced in a fixed structural form, camel manure balls (CMB). A farm with only 1000 camels producing up to 8 tons CMB daily. So far, there is almost a neglected level of use for this precious asset.
Quality of CMB
Though high-quality organic manure still we have little understanding about this asset. Some arable farmers avoid using CMB, considering it as poor quality and float on the water. I have been working on CMB for the last 5 years and I can clearly say that camel manure is better than other manures as it is rich with very diverse microorganisms (camel gut is home to a rich microbiome) which play a pivotal role in soil fertility. To avoid floating on water, the best solution is compost. Compost is very useful and efficient in many ways compared to raw manure.
CMB is an asset not waste
Camel manure is an asset both by the quality and the quantity produced on annual basis. This huge quantity of assets (rich with the microbiome and organic nutrients for soil) has almost no use. It is considered a burden and a huge work for the municipality. I have been writing and working on CMB to find out a sustainable and profitable solution. I have dumped it simply with some added moisture and checked the physical quality after 1 year. The fiber in the manure was decomposed and the manure was changed to blackish color. https://arkbiodiv.com/2016/02/02/camels-dungzfrom-waste-to-a-worthwhile-farming-agent/ https://arkbiodiv.com/2019/01/10/camel-manure-compost-trial-in-alain-uae/
Researchers and Developers Interest
When I started work and sharing ideas with the international community, I found that there is a very good level of interest of researchers and developers in this asset. https://arkbiodiv.com/2017/02/05/camel-manuresome-feedback-from-the-different-quarters-of-the-world/. I would love if some institute or investor come forward and chalk out a complete project of research and development on camel manure, ranging from organic fertilizer to greenhouse compost to energy production to desert development.
Material and Method
The trials were conducted on a camel farm in the Masakin area of Alain Abudhabi UAE. 6 samples with different levels of treatments and a control group were analyzed in this project. Molasses, microbiome culture, water, and buckets were used for the trial.
Results of the pilot compost project
We used fresh camel manure from the milking parlor (freshly collected from the rubber floor without any foreign material like sand) which is a bit moister than the manure in the housings of camels (as the sand absorbs moisture from manure so quickly). You can see all the procedures in the link below. https://arkbiodiv.com/2021/04/05/6223/
6 trials of different treatments were conducted as follows.
| Sample # | Treated with | Phys. quality |
| 1 | 500 ml molasses (M) | 5 |
| 2 | 500 ml Microbe sol (MO) | 6 |
| 3 | 1 L (Molases+Microb as 50:50) | 9 |
| 4 | 2 L (Molases+Microb as 50:50) | 10 |
| 5 | 1 L simple water | 4 |
| 6 | Control (not added anything) | 3 |
We filled 2 buckets of each treatment, roughly 3 kg each. We did not add any other material except the treatment with the water, molasses, microbiome solution, and mix of molasses and microbiome solution. The best result was found for sample #4 but there was no significant difference between sample #3 and sample #4.
Way forward and some suggestions
We need to go into further investigations and details. We really need institutional, technical, and other types of collaboration to proceed with this precious work. The following suggestions are presented here for future development in this area.
- Chemical analysis of the sample of compost (we have 3 samples, #2 #3, and#4)
- A comparatively larger and field level of compost trials are required
- A compost with other waste preferebly dates palm leaves etc
- Making specialized compost for green house farming
- Manure bricks for desert revitalization and dunes fixation
I’m very hopeful for a change of mind about the camel manure
The photo story of the project is provided in the link here https://arkbiodiv.com/2021/12/07/7497/